Physical Description

First edition. 22 ff. quarto 190:150 mm., wide margins, usual light age staining. A very good copy bound in modern cloth over boards.

Detailed Description   

First edition of this summary of halakhot by R. Menahem Azaria da Fano in the Sefer ha-Halakhot (Alfasi, Rav Alfas) of (Rif, 1013–1103). The title page describes it as a kizzur Sefer ha-Alfasi with additions, decisions, and novellae R. Da Fano. It is being published for the first time from a manuscript in the author’s handwritings with glosses and notes by R. Nahman Nathan Coronel. There is an introduction from R. Koronel and approbations from R. Rafael Ashekenazi, R. Jacob Saul Eliasher. R. Moses Joshua Judah Leib Diskin, and R. Samuel Salant, all of Jerusalem. Alfasi Zuta is on tractates Berakhot and Halakhot Katanot. The final page has biographical information on R. Da Fano.

R. Menahem Azaria da Fano (1548–1620) was an Italian rabbi and kabbalist. The scion of a wealthy family and a prolific author, he was a recognized authority on rabbinic law and the foremost exponent in the West of the kabbalistic system of R. Moses Cordovero . Under the influence of R. Israel Sarug , who during his stay in Italy spread the knowledge of the mystical system of R. Isaac Luria , R. Menahem Azariah became an admirer of the latter, though without departing from the system of R. Moses Cordovero. A pupil of R. Ishmael Hanina of Valmontone in Ferrara, he was active in Ferrara, Venice, Reggio, and Mantua. Together with his brothers he aided the victims of the earthquake of 1570. He was a patron of Jewish learning, contributing funds for the publication of such works as Cordovero's Pardes Rimmonim (Salonika, 1584) and R. Joseph Caro's commentary Kesef Mishneh (Venice, 1574–76) on Maimonides' Code. Fano's fame as a talmudist is borne out by the collection of 130 responsa bearing his name which was published in 1600 in Venice and in 1788 in Dyhernfurth. His style of writing was precise and he displayed considerable originality in the views he expressed. He enjoyed great popularity as a teacher, attracting students from far and wide, from Germany as well as Italy. One of his disciples compared him to an angel of God in appearance. His gentleness and humility showed themselves in his refusal to answer adverse criticism leveled against him by a contemporary scholar on account of certain statements he made with regard to the ritual of the lulav on the festival of Tabernacles. Amadeo Recanati dedicated to him his Italian translation of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed; R. Isaiah Horowitz praised his theological treatise Yonat Elem (Amsterdam, 1648) saying of it, "the overwhelming majority of his words, and perhaps all of them, are true, and his Torah is true" introduction to Novelot Ḥokhmah (Basle, 1631) by R. Joseph Delmedigo ). Seventeen of his works have been published. These include a summary of the legal decisions of Isaac Alfasi and his own major work on the Kabbalah, entitled Asarah Ma'amarot (only parts have been printed, Venice, 1597); Kanfei Yonah (Korzec, 1786), a kabbalistic work on prayer; and Gilgulei Neshamot (Prague, 1688) on the transmigration of the soul. Many of his kabbalistic interpretations must have been made for the first time in the course of sermons delivered by him. Extant in manuscript are liturgical poems, elegies, comments on the teachings of Isaac Luria, and a voluminous correspondence. He died in Mantua.

R. Nahman Nathan Coronel (1810–1890) was a talmudic scholar, author, and bibliographer. Coronel was born in Amsterdam where he studied at the Etz Haim yeshivah. At the age of 20 he immigrated to Ereẓ Israel and settled first in Jerusalem and later in Safed, where he suffered from the looting of 1834, the earthquake of 1837, and the Druze revolt. He thereupon returned to Jerusalem, where he became active in communal affairs. He was one of the few to support the establishment of the Laemel School, the first modern school in Jerusalem, as well as of the Battei Maḥaseh founded in 1859 to enable Jews from abroad to spend their last years in Jerusalem. He served also as an emissary of Jerusalem in Europe. Coronel became interested in acquiring manuscripts and gained world-wide renown as a bibliographer. While in Vienna in 1872, he exchanged manuscripts with the emperor Francis Joseph, from whom he received a decoration. He sold many manuscripts to various libraries and published others, among them: Beit Natan, comprising variant readings of Berakhot (Vienna, 1854); Ḥamishah Kunteresim (ibid., 1864); Seder Rav Amram Ga'on (Warsaw, 1865; repr. 1956); Teshuvot ha-Ge'onim (Vienna, 1871); Piskei Ḥallah by R. Solomon b. Abraham Adret (Jerusalem, 1876); and Alfasi Zuta, on Berakhot, by R. Menahem Azariah da Fano (ibid., 1885). His own works comprise Zekher Natan, a compilation of religious laws for travelers (Vienna, 1872) and Ḥakor Davar on the law of hallah outside Erez Israel (Vienna, 1871).

Hebrew Description

והוא קיצור ספר האלפסי ([הלכות רב אלפס לר' יצחק אלפסי] על מס' ברכות והלכות קטנות) בתוספות פסקים וחידושי דינים לרבינו מנחם עזריה מפאנו זצל"ה. יצא לאור בפעם ראשונה מכתיבת יד המחבר בעצמו עם הארות והערות רבות אשר חדשתי... נחמן נתן קורוניל...

עמ' אחרון: דברים מעטים מתולדות... הרמ"ע מפאנו. בתוך "הלכות קטנות" נכללו גם הלכות נדה, שנדפסו בהלכות רב אלפס בתוך מסכת שבועות, פרק ב. עיין: שאול שפר, הרי"ף ומשנתו, ירושלים תשכ"ז, עמ' 29. פ' רושם שתי הוצאות אחרות: א) בת יב דף, ב) בת טז דף.

הסכמות רבני ירושלים: ר' רפאל מאיר פאניזיל, ה טבת תר"ם; ר' אברהם אשכנזי, אלול תרל"ט; ר' יעקב שאול אלישר, ב תמוז תרמ"א; ר' משה יהושע יהודה ליב ב"ר בנימין [דיסקין], כו [מר] חשון תר"ם; ר' שמואל סלאנט, יז אייר תרמ"ה.

References  

BE alef 1908; EJ; CD-NLI 0148537